Beware summer scammers

Submitted by Mike Miller (LK303), Community Service Officer, Lakewood Police Department, 253-983-7856

A nice elderly lady in Woodbrook was contacted at her door by a 'contractor' offering to seal her driveway – which happens to be gravel, not asphalt. Contractor offered it for $200, the lady's son bargained it down to $75 (cash only), and the job was done. At least, the guy sprayed some kind of diesel-smelling chemical on her driveway. So we have an offer of work, an acceptance, and job delivery – no crime there. He provided a generic bid sheet as a receipt when asked. THE CONTRACTOR IS NOT WANTED FOR ANY CRIME. This is just information for you. If you have had contact with this guy, I'd like to hear from you.

The contractor is a white male, mid-twenties, slim, about 5’10”. He has close-cropped dark hair, looks clean-cut, and is very polite and well-mannered. He claimed to work for some local public agency. When asked for identification he briefly flashed a plastic wrist bracelet like you get if admitted to the hospital.

He drives a full-sized pickup truck, yellow or orange color, with an attached amber light on top. He had a white female in the cab of the truck, who acted like a “tweeker”: unable to sit still, continually flipping her hair with her hands, opening & closing her cell phone – hyperactive behavior consistent with methamphetamine use. By far the largest percentage of property crimes are driven by drug addiction, so this all fits together.

Driveway ‘sealing’ is a very common scam, especially perpetrated against senior citizens. These con men often do appear presentable and legitimate to throw off suspicion. In this case, he did do what he contracted to do. This still has the markings of a scam or con-job though.

General good advice for dealing with door-to-door solicitors:

DO NOT accept unsolicited door-to-door offers for yard work, driveway sealing, etc. If you need these services, you should seek them out directly from legitimate sources. The dangers are many; scammers will ask for money up front “to buy supplies” and then just disappear. If they take a check or credit card number you will almost certainly suffer ID theft. Pay in cash? Sure, if you WANT them to know you keep cash on hand so they should return later to burglarize you, or even force their way in on the spot.

If you don’t recognize the person at your door, or if you suspect a con job, just tell them (through a locked door, preferably) that you aren’t interested. If they won’t leave your property, call 9-1-1 and report suspicious person(s) at your door.

DO NOT let strangers in, even to use the phone, the bathroom, or for a drink of water. If they want to report a serious accident, a fire, a kitten up a tree, whatever – tell them you will make the 9-1-1 call for them but don’t allow them in. Bad people will do and say all kinds of terrible things to gain access to a vulnerable person.

Here comes SUMMER so the scammers will be gearing up soon.

Be smart = be safe.

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